iTunes competitor opens digital store

By Michelle Quinn - LOS ANGELES TIMES Updated: 07/07/08 6:50 AM SAN FRANCISCO — Rhapsody America, the Web’s top subscription-based music service, recently opened a digital download store, becoming the latest company to challenge the dominance of Apple Inc.’s iTunes. Like other recent challengers — and unlike iTunes — the Rhapsody MP3 store features songs from the four major record labels that aren’t constrained by anticopying measures. Apple has such music, which works on any digital music player and can be copied an unlimited number of times, from only one major label. The store from Rhapsody America, a joint venture of RealNetworks and Viacom’s MTV Networks, offers another indication that the music industry, in its struggle with Apple over the pricing of music, is cultivating a new breed of Apple competitor. Rhapsody... [read full story]